Balough
December 13, 2013
There is no copyright infringement where a company has a third-party build an assembly machine based on copyrighted drawings of another when the company had been granted a license to duplicate the machine for its own use. Automation by Design, Inc. (ABD) sued Raybestos Products Company for copyright infringement and breach of a license agreement […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A trade secret is usually “rich in detail” since general terms will usually be widely known and thus not capable of being protected, the Seventh Circuit said, affirming a judgment for the defendant. The defendant had filed for a patent for a process that was disclosed to it in general terms by the plaintiff. The […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A Minnesota statute that would fine those under 17 who rent or purchase certain video games has been declared unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court. The Minnesota Restricted Video Games Act was enacted on May 31, 2006. It stated in part that: “[A] person under the age of 17 may not knowingly rent or purchase […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Pebble Beach (without a golf course in the United Kingdom) cannot be sued in the United States for trademark infringement over its website by Pebble Beach (the one with the golf course in the US). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that as long as Pebble Beach in the UK maintains only a passive […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Kinderstart.com’s complaint against Google, Inc. for monopolistic practices and unfair competition failed to meet the grade, a trial court has ruled. Kinderstart.com sued Google for attempted monopolization, unfair competition and defamation and libel after the portal was blocked by Google’s page rank. Kinderstart said in 2000 it was “one of the choicest Internet destinations for […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Motion picture studios can prevent companies from selling “cleaned-up” versions of motion pictures since such editing infringes on the studios’ copyrights. In its ruling, the Colorado District Court rejected establishing a policy to allow such editing to provide “more socially acceptable alternatives to enable families to view the films together, without exposing children to the […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Comparing your goods to your competitor’s as the difference between dried cream cheese and real Parmigiano is not libelous but saying your competitor’s integrity is the same as the Iraq information officer can be libelous, an Illinois appellate court said. The issue arose over an advertisement in the Chicago Sun-Times by Cosmo’s Designer Direct, Inc. […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
The “fair reporting” privilege for documents filed with a court trumps actual malice as long as the report is an accurate summary of the pleadings, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled. The court said the privilege starts from the time a pleading is filed with the court. There does not have to be any court action […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A blogger who allows others to post messages on his site is not a “publisher” of defamatory statements, thanks to the Communications Decency Act, a Pennsylvania District Court found. The court dismissed a libel action against Tucker Max, a Duke Law School graduate, who describes his goal in life to be “a celebrity that gets […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
An NBC5 Chicago Special Report on the City of Chicago’s use of cameras that keep track of everyday public movements included an interview with Richard C. Balough as an expert on privacy law. Entitled “What’s on Tape? Chicago Using New Camera Technology,” the special report by Anna Davlantes explored the technology and legal implications of […]
